Consul; and into the sympathetic ear of that most long-suffering
official the young man poured all his woes, all his fears, all his
indignation that such happenings could occur in a so-called Christian
country. But the Consul could offer him very little comfort; for, as he
pointed out to Jack, the affair was one concerning the Spanish
Government alone, and with which he could not possibly interfere--at
least officially; but he undertook to refer to the matter unofficially,
at his next interview with the Capitan-General, and promised to furnish
Jack with any information which he might then or upon any other occasion
obtain. And with that somewhat meagre promise Master Jack was obliged
to rest content. But the young man could not remain so for long; and on
that and several succeeding days he wandered about the Havana streets
and haunted the various cafes and restaurants in the hope of somewhere
hearing a chance word which would throw a glimmer of light upon the
mystery. And he also reconnoitred the jails, passing and repassing them
a dozen times a day upon the off-chance that he might sooner or later
catch a glimpse of one or another of his friends' faces peering out
through one of the little grated openings in the walls. But all to no
purpose; at the end of three weeks from the date of the disappearance
the mystery remained as insoluble as ever. Nor had Don Ramon met with
any better success. "I cannot understand it," exclaimed that gentleman
irritably; "I have sought information in every conceivable direction,
and have set all sorts of unseen forces in motion, with absolutely no
result. Even the Capitan-General has drawn blank: he is ignorant--or
pretends to be--of what has happened to our friends; and the most that I
have been able to get out of him is the statement--which we may take for
what it is worth--that he has issued no order for the arrest of any
member of the Montijo family. I wish I could get hold of Alvaros, but I
have not been able to run up against him; and nobody seems to know where
he is, or anything about him."
It was three or four days later that Jack, by this time utterly weary
and heartsick at his lack of success, entered a restaurant which was
much frequented by the officers of the garrison, and, seating himself at
a table, ordered second breakfast. There were not very many people in
the place at the moment, but it soon began to fill up; and presently the
young man's heart gave a great bound, and he felt the pulses of his
temples throbbing furiously, as three officers, laughing and talking
loudly, entered the place and began to look about them for a table. One
of these men was Alvaros; hence Jack's emotion.
As the lad sat staring open-eyed at them, Alvaros glanced in his
direction, and Jack saw the light of recognition leap into his eyes.
"See, my friends," exclaimed the Spaniard, "there is a vacant table,
next to the one at which that young beast of an Englishman is sitting.
Let us take it."
And therewith the trio stalked down the room, and, with a vast amount of
clatter, seated themselves at the table next to the one occupied by
Singleton.
"That beggar means mischief; I can see it in his eye!" thought Jack.
"Well," continued he mentally, "let him do his worst; I mean mischief
too, and we will see who is the better player at the game. But I must
keep cool if I am to come out on top; and, who knows? the skunk may say
something which will afford me a useful tip."
For a few minutes the three officers sat chatting together, and then
Jack noticed that it was Alvaros and the youngest of the trio--an
ensign, apparently--who did most of the talking; the third man, who was
evidently a cavalryman, merely put in a word or two here and there, and
seemed to be slightly disgusted at the boisterousness of his companions.
Then Alvaros, who had feigned not to have recognised Jack, exclaimed:
"By the by, I must not forget to tell you a most interesting item of
news. Do either of you fellows happen to know, or to have heard of, a
certain Don Hermoso Montijo, who owns a large tobacco plantation in the
direction of Pinar del Rio? But of course you have; everybody knows or
has heard of Montijo, the richest man in Cuba--or who was until very
recently; but I am afraid that his riches will never be of much use to
him again. Why? Simply because the old scoundrel turns out to be hand
in glove with the insurgents! He has been helping them most lavishly
with money, and it is more than suspected that it is he who is
responsible for the importations of arms and supplies of all sorts that
have entered the island and reached the hands of the insurgents within
the last six months. He even went to Europe, taking his cub of a son
with him, for the purpose of procuring the most modern weapons. Every
Spaniard, therefore, who falls during the operations for the suppression
of the present rising will be indebted to Don Hermoso Montijo for his
death. But the Government is going to give him ample time in which to
repent of his sins, for he and his family sail for Fernando Po on Sunday
next on board the convict steamer _El Maranon_, in the company of
several other choice miserables. So we shall no longer be troubled with
him or his. And as I was chiefly instrumental in laying bare his
villainy, I shall, when his estates are confiscated, put in a claim for
them as my reward.
"But it was not so much of him as of his daughter that I intended to
tell you. Dona Isolda Montijo is universally admitted to be, beyond all
question, the most lovely woman in Cuba; and for once the popular
estimate is correct, as no man knows so well as I do." ("Steady, old
man, steady!" said Jack to himself. "Hold tight, and clench your teeth!
The blackguard is talking now with the express intention of provoking
you into the commission of some overt act for which you would be sorry
afterwards, and you must not allow yourself to be provoked. The
infernal fool, in his anxiety to hurt you, has made you a present of
what may prove to be a most valuable bit of information; but you must
not allow yourself to be inveigled into a scrape of any sort, or you may
not be allowed the opportunity to avail yourself of it. So keep a tight
grip upon yourself, Jack Singleton, and bottle up your wrath for future
use!") "When the Montijos were arrested, about a month ago," continued
Don Sebastian, "I so arranged matters that they were confined in La
Jacoba; and, of course, as Governor of the prison, I possessed
considerable powers; thus it was not difficult--" And therewith the
fellow proceeded with great gusto to tell the story of cruelty the like
of which, it is to be hoped, for the credit of one's manhood, is not
often repeated. And while it was telling, Jack "sat tight" and
listened, storing up every vile word and every monstrous detail in his
mind that he might have something to whet his vengeance upon when the
time for vengeance should come. But his agitation was so evident, his
distress so poignant, that Alvaros thought it would be very good fun to
direct public attention to it; so, feigning to become suddenly aware of
it, he swung his chair round, and exclaimed loud enough for everybody in
the room to hear:
"Hillo, Senor Englishman, what is the matter with you? You appear to be
upset about something. Perhaps my little story jars upon your
puritanical English notions? Or perhaps it is--yes, of course you are
upset about the news that you have just heard of your friends, for, now
that I come to look at you, I see that you are the Englishman whom I met
at Don Hermoso's house, and whom I warned to leave this island. How is
it that you have not yet gone?"
"Because it pleased me to stay," answered Jack. "But I shall be leaving
either to-morrow or the next day--for a short time. Now, Don Sebastian
Alvaros, disgrace to the uniform that you wear, unmitigated blackguard
and scoundrel, mean, contemptible coward, and, as I believe, colossal
liar, listen to me! As I told you a moment ago, I am leaving Cuba
within the next day or two. But I shall return, Senor; and if it should
ever prove that the infamous story which you have just told is even
approximately true, I will not kill you, but I will inflict upon you
such a fearful punishment for your vile deed that all Cuba shall ring
with it, and it shall be a warning to every man who hears the tale to
beware of doing the like!"
"Bueno, bueno; well spoken, young Englishman!" cried one or two voices
from amid the crowd; and several people, anticipating a fracas, started
to their feet, as did Alvaros, whose features were now livid and
twitching with mingled fury and fear.
"Pig of an Englishman," he exclaimed, clapping his hand on his sword
hilt, "you shall die for this!" And he attempted to snatch his weapon
from its sheath. But the cavalryman who had entered the place with him,
and had listened in silence and with a lowering brow to his shameful
story, now sprang out of his seat, and, seizing Alvaros by his
shoulders, thrust him violently back into his chair, hissing between his
clenched teeth:
"Silence, cochinillo! Sit down, and do not dare to further disgrace
your sword by drawing it on an unarmed man! I will manage this affair.
Senor," turning to Jack, "you have publicly insulted an officer of the
Spanish Army, and, great as has been your provocation, you must give the
man satisfaction. You are an Englishman, it would appear, and it is
therefore quite possible that you may have no friends here to see you
through your quarrel. Should such be the case, I shall esteem myself
honoured if you will permit me to place my services at your disposal. I
have the pleasure to offer you my card, Senor." So saying, he produced
a card-case, and, extracting a card therefrom, tendered it to Jack.
Meanwhile, during the progress of the above little speech, Jack had been
thinking hard. He was in for a row, after all, despite his good
resolutions of a short time before; and he must carry the matter through
as best he could. But since this strange soldier was willing to stand
by him and see fair play, there was certainly no need for him to further
complicate matters by calling upon Don Ramon or any of the other people
whose acquaintance he had made during his short stay in the island--and
all of whom were, moreover, friends of Don Hermoso; while, of course,
the British Consul was quite impossible. He therefore accepted the
proffered card, which bore the inscription:
"Lorenzo de Albareda, Colonel."
"5th (Madrid) Cuirassiers."
and handed over one of his own in return.
"I accept your generous offer, Colonel, with the utmost pleasure," he
said, "and will leave myself entirely in your hands. I am at present
living on board my yacht _Thetis_, which lies in the harbour, and I will
arrange that my steamboat shall be in waiting for you at the custom-
house steps to convey you on board, where you will find me when you
shall have completed your arrangements. And now, Senor, I must leave
you. _Adios_, until we meet again!"
And therewith, bowing first to his new friend, the Colonel, and then to
the company at large, many of whom clapped their hands approvingly, Jack
passed out of the restaurant, and made his way to Don Ramon Bergera's
house, to tell him what he had learned.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
JACK GROWS DESPERATE.
By a lucky chance it happened that Don Ramon was at home when Jack
reached the house, and the young man was accordingly conducted to the
room in which his Spanish friend usually transacted his business.
At sight of his visitor Don Ramon flung down his pen and grasped Jack by
the hand.
"Well," he exclaimed, "what is it? You have picked up some news at
last, I can see; and it is bad news, I fear, by the look of you. Or is
it that you are ill? Por Dios, man, you look as though you might be
dying! Here, sit down, and let me ring for some cognac."
"No, no," said Jack, "I need no cognac, or anything else, thanks; but I
have just gained some news of our poor friends, and bad news it is, as
you shall hear." And thereupon he related all that had passed at the
restaurant, repeating Alvaros' words as nearly verbatim as he could
remember them.
"Oh, the despicable villain, the atrocious scoundrel!" exclaimed Don
Ramon, when Singleton had come to the end of his narrative. "But do you
really believe that the part of his story relating to the Senorita
Isolda is true? May it not be that it is merely the empty boast of an
inordinately vain man? There are individuals, you know, who pride
themselves on that sort of thing."
"So I believe," answered Jack, "though, thank God, it has never been my
misfortune to be brought into contact with any of them until now. No; I
am afraid that the story is only too true. The scoundrel, being
Governor of the prison, would have the power to--to--do what he says he
did, and the mere fact that he boasted of it seems pretty strong
evidence that he also had the will. I am therefore afraid that--that--
oh, hang it! this won't do; I must pull myself together or I shall be
fit for nothing."
"That is very true," acquiesced Don Ramon; "when a man is going out to
fight another he must not allow his nerves to be upset by giving way to
violent emotion. Now, have you decided upon what weapons you will fight
with? Being the challenged party, you know, you have the choice of
weapons."
"Have I?" said Jack wearily. "Why, yes, of course, I suppose I have.
But I have not given a ghost of a thought to the question of weapons.
One thing is certain: I don't wish to kill Alvaros, for, of course,
Carlos will want to have a turn with him as soon as he can get the
chance, and he would, quite rightly, be furious with me if I were to
balk him. But neither do I wish him to kill me, for that would entirely
upset all my plans. What I should like to do would be to give him a
tremendous punishing without endangering his life. I suppose it would
not be good form to choose fists as the weapons, would it?"
Don Ramon laughed. "I scarcely know whether or not it would be `good
form' to insist on fighting with your bare fists," he said, "but I know
that it would be most unusual. Still, I am not sure that its
singularity would constitute an insuperable bar to its acceptance by the
seconds. At any rate there will be no harm in offering the suggestion
to de Albareda; he is a thorough good fellow all through, and you may
safely leave yourself in his hands. But, if you will pardon me for
saying so, my young friend, it appears to me that you are acting
somewhat quixotically in sparing this blackguard in order that your
friend Carlos may be able to take a hand in his punishment. If the
quarrel were mine, I should choose pistols, and shoot the fellow dead,
thus making sure of him. Besides, do you suppose that poor Carlos will
ever have a chance to get away from Fernando Po, when once they have got
him there?"
"He never will get there; neither he nor any of the rest of the family,"
said Jack, his eye brightening as the thought of his great adventure
came into his mind. "I have already decided what to do, so far as they
are concerned. I shall follow that convict ship, and take the Montijos
out of her."
"But, my dear boy," remonstrated Bergera, "you cannot possibly do that,
you know. It would be an act of piracy on the high seas!"
"I don't care the value of a brass button what it is," declared Jack, "I
am going to do it; and I will take my chance of being hanged for it
afterwards. But it will not be piracy, for I shall do the trick under
the Cuban flag--the flag of Cuba Libre, and I shall therefore be a
belligerent, not a pirate. And, as to shooting Alvaros dead--I
certainly will not do that if I can possibly help it, for such a
punishment as that would be altogether too light for the atrocious crime
of which he has been guilty, upon his own confession."
"Very well," said Don Ramon; "you must do as you please, both in that
and the other matter, for I see that you have already made up your mind
in both cases. I am glad that you came straight to me with your news,
although it is of such a dreadful character: for, now that we have
Alvaros' statements that our poor, unhappy friends are in La Jacoba, and
that they are to leave for Fernando Po on Sunday, I shall know how and
where to prosecute my enquiries; and it is very essential that we should
assure ourselves of the truth of both statements, otherwise your attempt
at rescue may miss fire, after all. Now, I suppose you will fight that
villain to-morrow morning at daybreak. If so, do me the favour of
coming here to early breakfast with me at eight o'clock; you can then
tell me what has happened, and I, for my part, shall by that time be in
a position to tell you definitely how much of Alvaros' story is true."
"Certainly," answered Jack; "I will come with pleasure. And meanwhile I
suppose I ought to be getting back to the yacht, to be ready to receive
de Albareda. So, good-bye! See you to-morrow."
It was nearly three o'clock when Singleton reached the _Thetis_; but in
answer to his enquiries he was informed that no stranger had visited the
ship. He therefore spent the entire afternoon in posting Milsom on the
position of affairs generally, and discussing with him Jack's plan for
the rescue of the Montijos from the convict steamer; which plan, by the
way, Milsom pronounced to be quite feasible, stating that, like Jack, he
was fully prepared to go through with it, piracy or not. And therewith
he began to congratulate himself upon his foresight in employing his
spare time in the preparation of his wonderful disguise for the yacht,
an opportunity to use which he had been awaiting with steadily-growing
impatience.
It was past five o'clock when the steam pinnace appeared approaching the
yacht, with de Albareda in the stern-sheets; and that officer explained
his delay by stating that he had been obliged to go on duty during the
afternoon, and had only just escaped therefrom. He plunged at once into
the business on hand by reminding Jack that the choice of weapons was
his, and asking him whether he had yet decided what he would use. He
was at first inclined to be somewhat annoyed when Jack explained with
earnestness that he would prefer to fight with fists only, for he was a
man who had a profound respect for the duello, which he considered ought
to be conducted with all due formality and dignity; but finally burst
into a fit of hearty laughter at the absurdity--as he regarded it--of
two men attempting to settle a serious quarrel by pommelling each other
like a brace of schoolboys. He admitted that, if Jack chose to insist
upon fists as weapons, he would be strictly within his rights, but
dwelt, as Don Ramon also had done, upon the unusual character of such a
demand, and strongly hinted at his own partiality for pistols; whereupon
Jack gracefully conceded the point and agreed that pistols it should be.
The remaining details were speedily settled, the hour arranged being
sunrise on the following morning, and the place the Botanical Gardens.
Then de Albareda went ashore again to interview Alvaros' second and
apprise him of the nature of the arrangements, promising to return to
the yacht in time for dinner, and spend the night on board. And a very
pleasant, genial fellow he proved to be; and a very agreeable evening
Jack, Milsom, and he spent together.
There are many more cheerful places in the world than the Havana
Botanical Gardens just at sunrise, for at that hour the mists lie chill
and heavy upon the ground, the grass is saturated with dew, and the
numerous trees not only freely bespatter everything beneath their
widespreading branches with copious showers of dewdrops, as the wind
sweeps through them, but many of them have a trick of assuming a
singularly weird and uncanny appearance in the first faint light of the
early dawn; yet Jack felt quite happy, not to say exhilarated, as he and
his friend the Colonel of Cuirassiers stepped briskly along the dew-
sodden gravel paths on their way to the rendezvous, which was an open,
grassy space in the south-west corner of the Gardens. Albareda had been
assiduously coaching his principal, ever since leaving the yacht, in the
etiquette of the duello as observed by the Spanish army, until he
considered that he had made his companion letter-perfect; and now he was
giving Jack a few last words of caution and admonition before standing
him up to be shot at.
"There is no doubt in my mind," said he, "that Alvaros intends to kill
you, if he can; for what you said to him yesterday has evidently sunk
into his mind and made him afraid of you. Therefore you must be careful
to fire sharp upon the word, or he will have you, for--to give the
fellow his due--he is rather a neat and quick hand with the pistol. The
word will be given thus: `One--two--three!' and at the word `three' you
must pull trigger. And I should recommend you to look him straight
between the eyes from the moment that you are posted, otherwise he may
attempt to play some trick with you, such as firing a fraction of a
second before the proper time, or something of that sort. Ah, here we
are, first on the ground, thank goodness, with a full two minutes to
spare! Only just managed it, however, for"--looking back along the path
by which they had come--"here come the other fellows, and the surgeon
with them. How are you feeling? Quite cool and comfortable? Good;
that is excellent!"
The conditions were simple: the duellists were to exchange not more than
three shots, at a distance of twelve paces, and were to fire at the word
of command; and at the last moment it was agreed, at Albareda's
suggestion, that if either of the combatants fired before the word of
command, he was to be penalised by his antagonist being given the
privilege of an extra shot at him. It was evident to all that this
condition was exceedingly distasteful to Alvaros; yet he could not
complain, or refuse its acceptance, since it imposed no hardship
whatever upon the man who intended to fight fair. These matters being
arranged, the ground was selected, the utmost care being taken that
neither combatant had the slightest advantage over the other in the
matter of light; the distance was paced off, and the men placed.
"Now," said Albareda, who was to give the word, "I shall count three
steadily, thus: `One--two--three!' and at the word `three'--but not
before, remember--you may pull trigger. Now, are you both quite ready?
Then--one--two--three!"
Jack most carefully observed every one of the instructions given him by
his second, including that which referred to looking his antagonist
steadily between the eyes, and he quickly saw that this simple
proceeding had a most disconcerting effect upon Alvaros, whose return
gaze at once became shifty and uncertain; the result being that the
Spaniard's bullet flew wide, while Jack's, aimed by a hand as steady as
a rock, struck Alvaros' right elbow, completely shattering the bone and
inflicting an injury that the surgeon, at a first glance, thought would
probably stiffen the arm for the remainder of its owner's life, to the
extent of very seriously disabling him. Under these circumstances
Alvaros' second expressed himself satisfied, and declined any further
shots; whereupon Jack and his friend left the ground and went their
respective ways, Jack back to the yacht, and the Colonel of Cuirassiers
to his quarters.
By the time that Jack got back on board the _Thetis_ it was nearly seven
o'clock, and the crew were busily engaged in performing the ship's
toilet for the day, spreading the awnings, and so on; he therefore
retired to the interior of the deck-house with Milsom, and arranged with
that individual that he should spend the day in filling the bunkers
"chock-a-block" with coal, taking in fresh water, laying in a supply of
fresh meat, vegetables, and fruit for sea, and generally preparing to go
out of harbour on the following day. Then, a thought suddenly striking
him, he wired to Calderon, directing him to pack and dispatch forthwith
to the yacht all the wearing apparel of every description that he could
find, belonging to any of the members of the Montijo family; the boxes
to arrive at Havana next day, without fail, not later than by the mid-
day train. This done, he hurried away to keep his breakfast appointment
with Don Ramon Bergera, whom he found awaiting him in a somewhat anxious
frame of mind lest anything untoward should have resulted from the duel.
Reassured on this point, Don Ramon chatted with Jack upon indifferent
subjects until breakfast was served and the servants had been dismissed,
when he said: